Mayor’s Memo: Spring News and Notes

Happy Spring Everyone and my apologies for not being more active on my social media. Things have been so busy in the village offices that sometimes social media inadvertently gets put on the back burner. Again, I offer my apologies.

I wanted to give you all an update on things going on in the village and let you know that even though I have not posted lately, we have been very busy working for Canastota.

Sorry, this will be a lengthy post but there are a lot of updates.

Grants

I spend most of my time working on grants for the village. If there is a grant out there that can benefit our community, chances are we have applied for it or are working on a grant application for it. The amount of time it takes to put these together and report on the winning grants is more than most would think.

Canastota Recreation Park Grant

Our recent grant application includes a $900,000 request for funding to make improvements to the Canastota Recreation Park. These improvements include the addition of a new parking lot off East Grago, full court resurfacing, pickleball court construction, fence repairs/replacements, handicapped upgrades to the bathrooms and installation of ADA compliant sidewalks throughout the entire park. While we will not know if we will be granted the award, we are doing our best to find money to make these projects a reality. We hope to hear back sometime this summer and will keep our fingers crossed.

BRICKS Grant – Old Erie Mill

As many of you know, late last fall, the village board authorized the purchase of the old Erie Mill with the intensions of using the property for parking and recreational purposes for the village residents and tourists. (conceptual design photo shown)

A public bathroom is planned at that location as well as additional parking for the Canal Street Redesign project. Charging stations, fishing deck, benches, lighting, picnic area have all been proposed at the site. This is being done not only to remove the unsightly mess but to provide something for the community. While many of our residents have expressed the want to keep the building there are others insistent that we tear it down. It has not been an easy decision. This year the village wrote an application for a BRICKS grant (first year offered). This application was to repurpose the actual building that is still standing. The village completed environmental studies on the property and had preliminary assessments given that noted that the core of the Erie Mill is, believe it or not, structurally sound. The add on portions are not. The application asked for $500,000 to renovate the building into a small community center that would include improved accessibility, but we were not successful in the application. The reason given was because the village did not have full site control at the time of application. All of the purchase agreements and funds transfers were complete and submitted with the application but the deed transfer was not made official until a week after the submission. Essentially, the village lost on a technicality.

Since that time, the board has decided to tear down the Erie Mill completely to clean the site up. It was agreed to search for and apply for funding down the road to construct a bathroom/parking/fishing area for residents and visitors.

OCWA Building

With that said, it leads us to the former water building on Deppoliti Ave. The building was once occupied by the village water department, later used by OCWA and has sat dormant for the past 14 years only being used as a storage location for equipment and odds & ends. Due to vital water infrastructure under the building, the village installed a new pitched roof on the leaking building and continues to retain ownership. This summer you will notice the village DPW using the building as a home base while National Grid completes a long overdue project at our DPW facilities to remediate the soil of contaminants from the days when the location primarily housed oil wells. This project is already underway and the DPW will be making the move to the Deppoliti Ave location later this month. Once the remediation project is complete in late fall, the DPW will move back the East Canal Street facility, and the village will begin the process of applying for a BRICKS grant again. This time the application proposal will be to turn the old waterworks building into a Recreation/Community Center for the residents. This location will be better suited for this project as it is next to the recreation fields and Stoneleigh housing. The building includes bathrooms and several office spaces large enough to hold programs in.

PLAYS Grant

The village will be applying for a PLAYS grant in June for proposed projects at the Municipal Pool. If awarded, the project would remove the pea stone at the playground and replace it with ADA compliant rubber substrate. A wheelchair swing will be added and possibly another piece of ADA complaint play equipment. Additional conversations have been started to possibly apply for a grant to install weather resistant outdoor exercise equipment at a separate area of the property. Along with this project, many of you may have noticed the 2 metal pavilions that were installed last summer between the pool and the playground. These structures have been a great addition to the facility and have been proposed as a location village residents can reserve for free to host birthday parties. More to come.

Sewer Separation Federal EPA Grant

Back in late 2023, a grant was awarded to the village for a Community Project Fund grant administered by the Federal EPA for sewer separation on South Canal, Commerce, parts of Center Street and State Street. The award is $1.5 million. To save money in the sewer budget that we just don’t have for engineers, we worked with the US Fish and Wildlife, the NYS DEC, NYS Parks, the Oneida Indian Nation and SU’s Environmental Forestry School to complete all of the environmental paperwork that included clearance for 2 identified endangered species (bats and butterflies). Once that was completed, we applied for and were awarded a waiver so that village residents would not have to contribute any funds towards the completion of these vital drainage projects.

Problems arise – due to the sheer time to plan out and receive clearance for this project, the cost of these projects increased post covid by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Money the village sewer budget just does not have. At this point, the village has gone out to find more funding for the project to cover the gap. We recently applied for a NYS DEC WIIA grant as a way to help pay for the remainder of the project, unfortunately we were not successful in that application. Upon exit interviews with the DEC, we found that the reason we were not granted the award was because they felt the engineering report was too old and not sufficient for today’s standards. The report submitted was developed by the village in 2016. The village has since been in conversations with the DEC, EPA and EFC and will be applying for a State Engineer Planning grant in June. This application if awarded will pay most but not all of the money needed to draft new engineering reports and update the construction/bid documents for the project. This engineering is expected to cost somewhere around $250,000. Money, we do not have but a project that must be done to help the residents in the areas near the creek as well as alleviate overflows at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. I know people in those areas are getting inpatient with the process but as I like to say, we are all under the constraints of the “Speed of State”. Please remain patient as the village stays the course to see this much needed project completed.

Local Waterfront Revitalization Project Grants

The village was awarded another round of Local Waterfront Revitalization (LWRP) funds and we have been working with engineers to develop construction documents for the planned upgrades to North Canal Street between Main and Peterboro Streets. Many of you have seen those designs, participated in surveys and provided feedback on among other things, the one-way proposal. This engineering grant award was for $175,000 and is being used to develop all of the engineering needed for the project. Parts of this project are included in the NY Forward grant, so we are already ahead of the game with regards to design and engineering.

In addition to the village’s LWRP awards, Madison County was also awarded an LWRP grant for the construction of the Canalside Pocket Community. Announced several years ago and inquired on by residents all the time, the village can confirm that the project IS still moving forward. A developer has been chosen for the project and final engineering has been approved. This will be a multi-million-dollar investment into our community and the developers, like the village are applying for additional funding everywhere they can. When complete, the project will include about 50 new housing units, a commercial retail space and Canalside amenities including seating, an additional handicapped accessible boat launch and possible kayak rentals.

NY Forward

As you are all probably aware, the village was granted $4.5 million in grant funds for the NY Forward program. To date the state has chosen the projects to be funded. Of the projects proposed, two of the village’s projects were chosen for FULL funding by the state. The redesign of our historic Canal Street and renovations to the firehouse that will include the construction of an elevator. As all grants go, this has been a very slow process, but the village received, reviewed, approved and returned the contracts back to the NYS Department of State. Now we wait until fully executed contracts are returned so we can begin work on engineering, and development of the construction/bid documents. Both the Canal Street Redesign and the Firehouse project will be 100% compliant with ADA standards. The firehouse will include the elevator and compliant bathrooms while the Canal Street project will include compliant paths and a handicapped accessible boat launch.

FEMA Airpack Grant – Doug Chandler

Once again Doug Chandler came through for the village with a FEMA grant when he wrote an application for a regional grant that included not only the Canastota Volunteer Fire Department but also the Wampsville and Lincoln Fire Departments. This award was for expensive but much needed fire equipment for all three departments. Late last fall the village completed work on this $750,000 project that provided new self-contained breathing apparatus equipment (SCBA) for all three departments. All equipment is in service and we have closed this grant out. All of us thank Doug for his tireless work over the years that has resulted in over $5 million dollars in grant awards for our community. These funds were vital in making sure our volunteers have the best equipment we can get which goes a long way in helping them protect our community. This year Doug has completed his 60th year as an active fireman in the Canastota Volunteer Fire Department. He has served in every office including Chief and holds the record for the longest active fireman in Canastota history. Doug has announced his retirement from active service this year and we sincerely thank him for all of his years dedicated to the Village of Canastota and the Town of Lenox. I’m certain he will enjoy well deserved time with his family and possibly work on reinvigorating the Fireman’s Old Timers club.

NEW Firetruck

The village has ordered a new Fire Engine to replace both the American LaFrance engine and the Rescue truck. American LaFrance ceased production of fire equipment back in 2014 and the village still owns 2 trucks. These trucks have been in service for over 20 years, but parts have been difficult to get making repairs increasingly expensive. For this reason, the village worked with Chief Lyle Chafee and a truck committee to design and order a new truck. This new truck will cost $1.4 million dollars. Unfortunately, no grant funds were available to be obtained, and the village will dedicate funds each year to make payments until it is paid off. Parts of the Town of Lenox are served by the fire department, and they have dedicated funds from their fire district budget to assist in those payments. A deposit of $400,000 will be made on the truck with the remainder to be bonded. The truck is expected to be delivered in October 2026. Once in service, the 2 Americal LaFrance trucks will be decommissioned and sold.

Drainage Issues

Following last summer’s flood that devastated a third of the village, the village has finally caught the attention of outside agencies. We are working with the NYS DEC, NYS Thruway Authority and Madison County Soil and Water to try and clean debris out of the Canastota Creek. While these efforts will not stop flooding issues, it will remove most of the trees and debris that can cause the water to slow down as it passes through the village. We all can agree that flooding issues will never be completely eliminated but the village is taking as many preventative steps as we can to help move water through the community. Late last fall, Madison County Soil and Water assisted with funding to hire contractors to come in and remove debris from the creek behind the sewer plant. The NYS Thruway Authority will begin work this spring to remove debris and sediment from the box culverts near the recreation park. Our DPW removed more down trees from the creek following heavy rains just this past week in an effort to help keep the water flowing. Additional cleanup will be done this year north of the village. Residents along the creek are reminded that they are responsible to keep the creek banks clear of brush, debris and trees. After last summer’s flood, the village DPW removed obstructions from culverts that included lawn furniture and firewood. These items were stored by residents too close to the creek banks and were washed downstream contributing to the backups that caused the widespread flooding.

250 Year Celebration of the United States

A committee of community members have been meeting at the Canastota American Legion to plan a celebration for the 250 Birthday of the US. The next meeting is open to the public and will be held at the American Legion on Thursday, April 16th at 6:00 PM. Volunteers are always encouraged to participate. This year the Community Carnival will be rebranded to focus on this monumental celebration of the birth of our country. Additional recreation events will be held throughout the summer. A schedule of events is being drafted but the big weekend will be held Thursday, July 23rd – Sunday, July 26th. Some of the events being proposed include: amusement rides, band performances, fireworks, softball game, boxing match, car/tractor show, hot dog or pie eating contest, tug of war tournament and more. If you are interested in helping put these events together, please attend the meeting. We never turn away help or great ideas!

Lastly, another successful year of Fireman’s Fish Fries has come to an end. Thank you to our firemen for hosting this event every year. It is a great fundraiser for the fire company and an even better way for the community to interact with one another. We thank you all for your hard work this year and I personally am keeping my fingers crossed that by next year, we will have an elevator in the building to allow more community members to enjoy these dinners.

Rosanne Warner
Mayor
Village of Canastota